Media Abuzz Over Michael Douglas Comment Linking Oral Sex and Cancer

Actor Michael Douglas stirred up a bit of a media frenzy with a comment that throat cancer, something he battled in recent years, can by caused by oral sex with a woman who has a sexually transmitted disease, USA Today reports.

Douglas made the comment in an interview with the U.K. newspaper The Guardian. The actor reportedly indicated that his cancer might be related to his contracting the human papillomavirus (HPV).

The rep reportedly said: "Michael Douglas did not say cunnilingus was the cause of his cancer. It was discussed that oral sex is a suspected cause of certain oral cancers as doctors in the article point out but he did not say it was the specific cause of his personal cancer."

Douglas, 68, has returned to acting after being free of cancer for more than two years, the story notes. After his diagnosis in 2010, he cited smoking and drinking as causes of his cancer, which was treated with extensive chemotherapy.

USA Today reports: “Asked whether he now regretted his years of smoking and drinking, Douglas replied in the article: ‘No. Because without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes about from cunnilingus.’"

The report adds: “Douglas, who has been married to Catherine Zeta-Jones since 2000, continued: ‘I did worry if the stress caused by my son’s incarceration didn’t help trigger it. But yeah, it’s a sexually transmitted disease that causes cancer.’"